1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a personal computer (PC) system with an autonomous CD circuit. More specifically, a PC system having a program that is activated and controlled using a CD control panel of the CD circuit is disclosed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, laptop computer systems with autonomous CD players have come onto the market. The xe2x80x9cToshiba PCxe2x80x9d notebook computer from Toshiba is such an example. These computers enable a user to listen to a CD, using the built-in CD drive of the computer, when the other circuitry of the computer, i.e., the processor, memory and display circuitry, is turned off. In this mode, the PC system functions somewhat like a large portable stereo system.
Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 depicts a prior art laptop PC system 10 with an autonomous CD player, as described above. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the PC system 10. Of relevance to this invention, the prior art PC system 10 comprises a display 12, two speakers 14, a headphone jack 16, a CD drive 18, and a CD control panel 20. Inside the casing of the PC system 10 are also a processor 13, a memory 15, a CD playing control circuit 17, and a power supply 11, as well as a great deal of other complex circuitry.
The power supply 11 provides electrical power to all of the components of the laptop PC system 10, and during portable operations is usually a battery, or a plurality of batteries. The CD playing control circuit 17 is electrically connected to both the CD control panel 20 and the CD drive 18. The CD drive 18, in turn, is electrically connected to both the headphone jack 16 and the speakers 14. When electrical power is turned off to all other components of the PC system 10, the power supply 11 may still deliver power to the CD drive 18 and the CD playing control circuit 17. The CD playing control circuit 17 controls the operations of the CD drive 18 and can itself be controlled by a user via the CD control panel 20. Even though the computing and display portions of the laptop PC system 10 are turned off, the user can still listen to a CD. As in a portable stereo device, play, track forward, track review and stop buttons on the CD control panel 20 permit a user to listen to a CD in the CD drive 18, using either the speakers 14 or headphones 22 plugged into the headphone jack 16.
The above design was invented because many users were using their laptop computers as highly complex personal stereo systems. Consequently, it became clear that a great deal of battery life was being wasted on processor and display systems that weren""t being utilized. The user simply didn""t need the processor 13 and the relatively power-hungry display 12 to exclusively listen to a CD. The dedicated CD playing control circuit 17, and the associated CD control panel 20 would suffice for dedicated playing needs. This prior art design greatly extended battery operational time, and hence the number of CDs to which a user could listen.
Unfortunately, this prior art design has a simple draw-back: if a user does wish to use a program on the laptop PC system 10, the computing-related portions of the laptop PC system must be turned on. In doing so, the user must wait through a lengthy booting procedure. This booting procedure is also wasteful of battery power. This can be frustrating, as a user frequently may wish to perform a relatively simple task, such as setting a timer or an alarm clock.
It is therefore a primary objective of this invention to provide an embedded controller in a PC system that, upon a predetermined control signal from a CD control panel, will cause the processor and display to turn on, and cause the processor to run an embedded display program.
The present invention, briefly summarized, discloses a personal computer (PC) system with a CD drive, a CD playing control circuit, an embedded controller, a CD control panel and an embedded display program contained within the Basic Input Output System (BIOS) of the memory of the computer. With the CD drive, the CD playing control circuit and the CD control panel, a user can listen to a CD when the computing and display portions of the PC system are turned off. However, upon a predetermined control signal from the CD control panel, the embedded controller will turn on both the processor and the display of the PC system, and cause the processor to begin executing the embedded display program.
It is an advantage of the present invention that no lengthy booting procedure is required to begin executing the embedded display program. Consequently, a user suffers no inconvenience to run the program. Moreover, by avoiding the computer booting process, power is conserved, which extends the operational time of the battery.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.